UNDER THE TABLE: The Final Fight for Foie Gras in the U.S.
When the NY ban takes effect, will it be enforced? In both California and Chicago (which had a foie gras ban in place for two years before it was lifted), many chefs continued to serve the banned dish.
JULIET SONG: ‘On Oct. 30, the New York City Council passed a bill to ban the sale of foie gras in the city, effective 2022. Mayor Bill de Blasio signed it into law on Nov. 25. New York is the final battleground for the foie gras industry in the whole country. It’s one of the largest markets for foie gras, especially after the delicacy was banned in California… Two of the largest foie gras farms in the United States are Hudson Valley Duck Farm and La Belle Farm, both in Sullivan County, New York.
When California banned the sale of foie gras, it put the only producer in California out of business. And it took 20 percent of Hudson Valley’s sales. New York City accounts for another third of Hudson Valley’s sales. If the ban takes effect as planned, “then it gets very difficult to continue as a business,” Henley said. “If Hudson Valley goes under … foie gras production in the U.S. is pretty much over,” said Michaela Desoucey, author of “Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food,” in an interview with The Epoch Times. “And I don’t see anybody wanting to start up a foie gras farm because of how political it is”…
The three-year grace period before the ban goes into effect is meant to give the farms time to change their business models and survive. Speaking for PETA, Byrne said that “businesses have always had to adapt to keep up with our changing ethics and this is no different.” New York City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, who sponsored the bill to ban foie gras, said in an email to The Epoch Times that she feels three years is “sufficient to allow these farms, which produce a wide variety of other duck products, to increase production and develop business opportunities in other regions and states”…
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an industry appeal on the matter, effectively upholding the ban in California. But Attorney Michael Tenenbaum, who represented industry players in California and is preparing for the legal battle in New York, said the legal challenge against the California ban is still ongoing in the California federal court… When California first approved a ban on foie gras in 2004, it gave a grace period of more than seven years before the ban would take effect. California’s 15-year struggle with the issue may give an idea of what New York is in for…
Rivera’s office said it can’t comment on the legal challenge since she has “not received any notice regarding a lawsuit.” Even if the legal fight fails and the ban takes effect, it will be difficult to enforce. In both California and Chicago (which had a ban in place for two years before it was lifted), many chefs continued to serve the banned dish. Some chefs gave it away for free, since it’s specifically selling it that’s illegal. Some held underground “duckeasy” dinners reminiscent of the speakeasies during prohibition times. Some sold foie gras using codewords’. SOURCE…
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